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Experiencing the Real Nomadic Lifestyle

Hiking with Bakhtiari tribe during their seasonal migrationMohammad Malekshahi

in the last days of the fall migration of Bakhtiari Tribes, we went on a 5 days trip to experience the real nomadic lifestyle. at first two days, we went to some Nomadic villages and spoke with the nomads who were settled in their winter pasture. the conversation was about their daily works, traditions and about their peaceful lifestyle which is on the opposite side of the western lifestyle.

after this two days we arrived at the pretty village of Sar-Agh-Seyed we stayed there for the night. the next three days, we joined two nomadic families during their migration, while they were passing the Zardeh Mountain. in the first-day, they just hiked 5 kilometers to let the herd relax and get ready for next day. we slept under the sky and the second day was full of happenings: the shower during the night which was a bad signal for continuing the migration . in the morning, the leader of the nomadic family decided to stop there for another day to see how the weather is going on. the path was hiking to the top of Zardeh mountain and come down from the other side; he was afraid of rainings when we are on top of the Summit. but suddenly whether changed, all the clouds went away and the boss told, “we will leave in 20 minutes!”

during this day we hiked upward through a valley called Zardeh, and downward through another valley called Choma. it was more than 35 kilometers trekking inclined path, but as you are going with the music made by the bells of Goats you won’t realize this. scenes were mind-blowing and the honest conversation with the tribe family is absorbing. this Day was the hardest part of the migration of Bakhtiari nomads from thousands of years ago; so for the launch, we had the most nostalgic and nutritious food of Nomads, Ghee oil with palm sap and bread.

the third day we had breakfast with the family. they wanted to stay in that location for some other days and use the fresh grass. we said goodbye to them and left them to the Bazoft forest of oak trees (on the east side of Zardeh Mountain). we passed this part and arrived at the main road of Shahr-e-Kord. it was about 25 kilometers hiking. the tour finished in the bus station of Shahr-e-Kord. four of the tourists took a night bus to Shiraz and the other one of them went to Isfahan; I and Hamid also took a night-bus to Tehran.